Kevin Duffy: Logical not to save redshirt year for Boyle

Updated 1:13 am, Wednesday, October 9, 2013

STORRS -- There was Tim Boyle a few weeks ago, eating alone at a table in the Shenkman cafeteria, wearing a hoodie and blue shorts marked with his No. 14, just in case anyone needed to identify him.

Then there was Tim Boyle Tuesday, eating again in the Shenkman cafeteria, this time in the company of a dozen reporters, a half-dozen TV cameras and teammate Kamal Abrams, who stood over Boyle's shoulder, probably to be sure the freshman quarterback didn't say anything regrettable.

"When I used to come (to Rentschler Field) to watch D.J. Hernandez and some other quarterbacks, I thought it would be cool to come here and play," said Boyle, a resident of Middlefield and a 2013 graduate of Xavier-Middletown.

"Now that I'm here and I'm actually the starting quarterback, it's not as exciting as I thought it would be just because I'm trying to ¦"

Boyle paused, laughed and re-routed his response.

"Obviously it's exciting," he continued. "It's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I don't want to think about it too much."

The decision to throw Boyle into this mess of an offense and sacrifice his redshirt will be criticized by some. That's what happens when coaches make drastic midseason moves. It's natural.

But is a redshirt year really that valuable?

"We always have to evaluate," said UConn interim coach T.J. Weist. "Number 1, what's best for the team? And No. 2, what's best for the player?"

At this very moment, it's not a given that Boyle is a better quarterback than former starter Chandler Whitmer. It's obvious, though, that he potentially could be.

And when you stink in 2013, as UConn does, you can't worry about a fifth year of eligibility in 2017. You've got more pressing issues than 2017. If you think Boyle might be the guy -- and it's been so long since UConn has had "the guy"-- both he and the team are best served if he's the guy right away. As Whitmer pointed out in a moment of unintentional foreshadowing prior to the Buffalo debacle, there is no substitute for game reps.

"These mistakes that happen in games," Whitmer said, "that's the only way you can get that experience."

In that regard, the decision was sound. Whenever it was made -- Weist wouldn't specify; Boyle said he began practicing with the starters during the first USF tune-up -- it was the logical move. Now comes the hard part.

"You'd like to believe (he succeeds), you hope it happens, but you don't know until it truly happens," Weist said.

Here's what we know about Boyle: He's a Connecticut kid who has always gone to UConn games. He even rushed the field as a 13-year-old (with his dad) when the Huskies knocked off No. 12 South Florida in 2007, the program's first win over a ranked opponent. He played his youth football in North Branford -- about 25 minutes from his home in Middlefield -- and then attended Xavier High in Middletown. Xavier, according to the CIAC, had one football state championship prior to his arrival. With the 6-foot-4 Boyle, a strong-armed prototype passer, the Falcons won an unprecedented three in a row.

He committed to Boston College in June, 2012, telling The Middletown Press that the Eagles "throw 30 times a game, which suits me as a pocket passer." But Boston College coach Frank Spaziani was fired in November and his offensive coordinator, Doug Martin, was replaced. The new staff recruited a more mobile quarterback, Ohio dual-threat James Walsh, and Boyle re-opened his recruitment.

"Coach P did a good job with me, even the day I committed to B.C., telling me I'd always have a spot here at UConn," Boyle said.

He was also pursued by Pittsburgh and ¦ wait for it ... Oregon. The Ducks never offered, but there were phone conversations between Oregon coach Mark Helfrich (the offensive coordinator under Chip Kelly) and Boyle. Hence the hype here in Storrs.

"They were high on me, they liked me a lot," Boyle said. "But I'm happy I ended up at UConn."

We know, with Oregon as evidence, that Tim Boyle is a terrific prospect. The Ducks don't mess around with mid-level players. We know that he's an accomplished high school quarterback. But we also know that high school doesn't always translate.

"There are so many players in recruiting that get over-recruited," Weist said. "You just don't know about recruiting."

"We have to have patience with a young quarterback and allow him to develop," Weist said. "(If) that's making mistakes, then so be it. You hope that, you'd like to plan that those mistakes aren't critical ¦ but as a young player, any freshman, he's got to learn from the game."

Yes, mistakes will happen. They've happened an awful lot in Storrs lately. But whatever happens with Tim Boyle, whether he becomes the next Dan Orlovsky or simply the next in a growing line of unspectacular Orlovsky successors, it's no mistake to sacrifice 2017.

"I didn't come to UConn to redshirt," Boyle said. "I came here to play. I'm happy where I am now, and I'm not worried about the fifth year."